ABCs of 13F Filings

Adding, Balancing and Comparing Insights

As we near 45 days post quarter-end, it’s time to prepare for 13F filings, the stock ownership reports filed by institutional investors. While it is easy enough to access 13F data, the challenge is how to add value by combining market intelligence, company insight and competitor understanding into your 13F analyses. Here are our ABCs for adding, balancing and comparing 13F insights.

Add insight gleaned from market intelligence activities

One of the keys to adding value with market intelligence is to ensure you’ve been capturing investor interactions throughout the quarter. These notes, ideally one or two sentences about the investor and three to five bullets on topics that were covered, can then be tied to changes in ownership. Perhaps someone with whom you met in January is now initiating a position in the September 13F filing period. Or a position is being trimmed and from the investor database you see the portfolio manager has moved to another firm. Tying on-the-ground insights with on-line data provides important nuances that add value to the company’s future investor relations activities.

Balance news events

The reasons underlying every investment vary – with decisions driven by a blend of quantitative financial performance and investment thesis, and qualitative announcements and news. Make sure you pull all the releases from the past quarter and conduct a thorough, unbiased assessment on the impact of these announcements on the investment community. Understand investors’ perception on the company’s recent news and you’ll have a better idea about what’s happening behind the numbers.

Compare competitive position changes

There are hidden gems in every corner of the 13 filings. This includes buying and selling of your peer companies’ stock. Perhaps a shareholder has trimmed a position in your company, and has also trimmed positions in your peers. Or conversely, has a shareholder trimmed a position in your company but doubled down on a peer? This type of comparative analysis allows for a 360° view of stock ownership and can be used to target the next generation of shareholder as new investors of competitor companies can be added to your target outreach list.